A brief exchange with Dora Morelenbaum

Singer songwriter Dora Morelenbaum, also known as a member of the Latin Grammy winning group Bala Desejo, releases her solo album Pique (Mr Bongo) this week, and a fine example of new-wave Brazilian pop it is too, taking in swooning MPB, Jazz, some (old-school) funk, and even a dash of disco. Sounds & Colours caught up with Dora by e-mail for a brief exchange about the new album.

First up, how do environments affect her music? “I feel like I’m impacted by different artists from different places and languages,” but when thinking about Rio de Janeiro, a city in which music is ingrained like words through a stick of rock, she says, “It is a metropolis, with all the chaotic and noisy elements but still with a lot of contact with beauty. (I’m) learning a little about what happens in between.” 

When talking about her collaboration with Ana Frango Elétrico, who co-produced the album, she says, “I had some aesthetic desires for the language of the album when I started to conceive it, and I called Ana with that in mind – it was essential for us to achieve the sound we achieved. Ana is one of my greatest partners in music today. It’s always incredible to collaborate: we complement each other in many ways in the creation, with a lot of listening and curiosity for what the other has to contribute.” It’s true, you can hear the sound of Ana Frango throughout the album, for example the influence of prime-Tropicália Gal Costa in “Essa Confusão” and the off-kilter funk of ‘Sim, Não’. With regard to collaborations in the future, Dora’s looking for “artists who can take me to new soundscapes”.

Dora grew up in a musical family; her parents are both musicians and her father is renowned composer and musician Jaques Morelenbaum, who has collaborated with everyone from Tom Jobim to Ryuichi Sakamoto. I was curious to find out stories from this musical household, but Dora wasn’t too forthcoming, “The best stories and jokes are told in the backseat of the vans to the show… It was one of my favourite moments when I was a child accompanying my parents’ work.” But what about her father’s influence? “It influenced the way I listen to and feel music, always through an affectionate and loving gaze.” Okay, not giving up much there; a shame as I reckon there’s a book of stories to be told from that household.

I’m curious to know what artists think about the state of the music industry at the moment (e.g., streaming, over-abundance of festivals and so on), but Dora seems pretty enthusiastic about it all. “Both festivals and streaming can be great, if they are about music, instead of being about  money and brands. Both could be great platforms to discover new sounds, if they really meant it.”

Finally I always like to ask artists what they are listening to at the moment and what Brazilian artists we should be looking out for. She gives me a great list: “I love listening to what’s new in Brazil such as Jadsa, Sophia Chablau, Vitor Milagres, Bruno Berle, Bebé, Luiza Brina, Maria Beraldo… Also been listening to this Hirth Martinez album Hirth from Earth [from 1975], and Henri Salvador’s Homme Studio.” 

So, some interesting recommendations there. Pique is out on the 25th of October and it comes with a solid S&C recommendation as it looks back to greats like Banda Black Rio and Lincoln Olivetti, with a nod to the eternal Gal Costa, but also firmly looks forward with an indie-pop sensibility.

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